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We have a neighbor, a weekend dad who lives alone, who neglects his property to the point that the HOA has at times had to step in and make necessary repairs. He's lived at the address for a number of years, but never ventures out of doors. Therefore, his yard, fence, etc. don't really exist within his mind.
But for those of us who live adjacent, we cannot ignore the obvious as his lot becomes an overgrown mess and his fencing collapses in on itself.
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Physical, mental, spiritual, emotional. Those are the four areas of humanity. Each should be nurtured and tended to, and arguably, each are of equal importance.
Which of the four is elevated culturally as most important?
Physical, of course.
Conversely, which of the four is least respected / considered relevant?
Spiritual.
Some would argue that mental / emotional are the same. I disagree.
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When I was a younger man, I did my fair share of neglecting my spiritual self. In fact, often weeks / months would go by without me ever picking up my Bible at all. Instead, I depended on listening to others teach Scripture to me - typically at church.
And it showed.
My propensity for sexual sin was rampant during this time. Lust was my fallback for whenever I was bored / distracted in the least.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that I loathed reading God's word. Because...
"I have to read the passages two or three times to make sense of it." - Typical Bible reader
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And honestly, I wish I knew what changed all of that, but my assumption is it had to do with me becoming a middle age man who found himself ministering to younger men. That, coupled with me wanting to explore Scripture as I saw other middle-aged men explore motivated me to step outside of my comfort / lazy zone - so to speak.
What's sad is when spiritual neglect sets in, it feels absolutely okay to embrace due to a few key elements. 1) Often, the adjacent traits of humanity provide far easier "cultural returns" to oneself whilst catering to them. 2) Spiritual neglect can, at times, seem super easy to hide from everyone else. In fact, with the proliferation of sinful behavior (especially if it's private), it can almost seem impossible to justify even trying to "make the situation right".
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The hardest part regarding all of this is I cannot control / influence my neighbor's priorities. Despite the fact that they're right there in my face each and every day. Sheesh. Get a grip dude. You're hurting everyone around you by not prioritizing your spiritual health / well-being.
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